When New York Fashion Week kicked off, we swore to monitor the diversity -- or the lack of -- on the runways. CFDA president Diane Von Furstenberg sent a letter to designers, model agencies and casting directors last month, encouraging them to create shows "that are truly multicultural." Well, the NY Daily News reports that despite von Furstenberg's efforts (and the numerous summits held by former model and agent Bethann Hardison), the catwalks were sorely lacking in models of color. According to the News, out of 66 shows at the in the Bryant Park tents, 18 designers had no black models. Jezebel editorial assistant Maria-Mercedes Lara, who went through each and every fashion show posted on Style.com, said that the models were overwhelmingly Caucasian-looking.  read more »

*Reproduced from The Wall Street Journal, 26th Jan 2008. Style Why 'It' Bags Are Out* Luxury bags fall victim to their own success; exclusive over ostentatious By *CHERYL LU-LIEN TAN* and *RACHEL DODES* January 26, 2008; Page W1 Irene Weisburd used to buy 20 handbags a year, dutifully getting on waiting lists for the season's designated "it" bag and filling her "bag wardrobe" with Fendi Baguettes, a Louis Vuitton Murakami bag and Prada nylon backpacks. Recently, however, she has bypassed popular styles such as last fall's Gucci Indy bag and the ubiquitous Fendi 'B' bag in favor of unadorned pieces from Bottega Veneta and lesser-known labels such as New York's MZ Wallace.  read more »

---Quote--- *Bags for people with bags more money than sense* Linda Grant Wednesday January 9, 2008 Guardian If western civilisation were to fall tomorrow as a result of the kind of meteor attack that supposedly killed the dinosaurs, future archaeologists would discover a landscape littered with almost indestructible It Bags. It is the received wisdom handed down from my mother that a good handbag makes the outfit but there is "good" and there is Burberry's new 13,000 gold alligator bag, which is not even the most expensive currently available. You could, for example, spend $55,000 (28,000) on an Hermes crocodile bag, the clasp of which is encrusted in diamonds. As designer fakes proliferate, handbag makers have aggressively put up their prices.  read more »

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute's annual gala: Oh, it happened all right. And though you now know who made it into the the Good , the Bad , and the Ugly category of "fashion's Oscars," we know you're just dying to know what the media themselves had to say about the yearly orgy of fashion and fame. (At the very last you're dying to know what hoity-toity critic-types had to say about Anna Wintour's Princess Amadala outfit, right?  read more »

&set=72157604238421843">?o=0'>?o=0' style='font-size: 9px; text-align: center;'>Click the image above to view the full photogallery. Already in full force on the other side of the world in Hong Kong, it appears the UFO-like Chanel Mobile Art Container will crash land somewhere in New York in September 2008, just in time for Fashion Week. The conceptual lovechild of Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld and architect Zaha Hadid was called a "very elaborate Chanel commercial" by the IHT, but Racked's own first-hand sources didn't mind the commercialism as much as the drone-like rigidity of the tour and the confusing, contradictory messages found in the art—one being the tragedy of making bags out of animal skin, followed by glorification of the leather 2.55 Chanel purse.  read more »

J uli Lee is the designer for Julianna Rae one the most luxurious and glamourous lingerie houses. Here are her insider tips on boudoir dressing. J: Intriguing. It makes you want to look a little closer and find out more. J: Spain. This amazing country is often overshadowed by the better known kids on the block for lingerie, Italy and France. What I love about the Spanish designers is they have a much more fresh approach, less bound by tradition. It feels modern, feminine, fun and very wearable.  read more »

J uli Lee is the designer for Julianna Rae one the most luxurious and glamourous lingerie houses. Here are her insider tips on boudoir dressing. J: Intriguing. It makes you want to look a little closer and find out more. J: Spain. This amazing country is often overshadowed by the better known kids on the block for lingerie, Italy and France. What I love about the Spanish designers is they have a much more fresh approach, less bound by tradition. It feels modern, feminine, fun and very wearable.  read more »

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